I feared that this would happen when it became clear that Zoro was gonna struggle against King, considering that his fans already had him way above King.
So far the excuses for Zoro's performance have been:
1. Zoro is nerfed, the magical drug that was said to fully heal him for a period of time, actually failed.
2. King is far stronger than his portrayal suggest, and he is actually closer to even Kaido in strength.
3. Zoro is out of stamina due to the rooftop action, despite the other 4 guys who were with him still going strong.
4. Zoro is conserving his strength to kill Kaido (saw this one on reddit).
King is special amongst the beast pirates due to his lineage, the same way Katakuri was special amongst the BMP due to his future sight.
All right hands are special. The sooner we accept that Zoro has yet to reach the Right hand level the more things will make sense.
