But WB and Roger are dead, they don't count since they can longer fight a 1v1.
Bro, let me ask you, why was there not any mention of Kaido's 1v1 hype or any of that sort before ?
Because WB was alive. He was generally seen as the strongest, we have countless statements from people even close to Kaido confirming that.
Big mom, Doflamingo, Garp, Sengoku, Buggy etc all elevated the name of WB above Kaido. I mean, Big mom literally said that taking down WB is a harder task than beating her rival, Kaido.
That was not a matter of " He is the greater pirate"
Do you know when the popular saying about it came about?
Yes, I believe it was before the death of WB, and when he was becoming an emperor by the individual strength mentioned by Sengoku.
At this time it should be PRIEM WB which is = Roger.
If they doubted that prime WB couldn't beat Kaido in 1v1, Roger couldn't either.
I'm talking about individual strength, 1v1 enters captains, defeating includes a number of things, for example kaido may have a weaker band than the WB.That makes it easier to get knocked down.
But this does not mean that he is weaker.
the gang matters, do you know why? When BIG MOM came to wano, Kaido was not worried about her, but yes, if she brought some of her commanders, soon after he released BIG MOM for 1v1, then the danger and apparently Kaido's fear is that while he is fighting the 1v1 captain, his entire pack can lose and leave him alone.
This looks like a defeat, and your last way is to surrender and let yourself be captured.