To answer to your original rant. The Zoro vs Sanji debate has nothing to do with Zoro and Sanji as characters. It have to do with their fans as human being.
The issue lies with the name calling (Zorofans (<3), Zoro wankers, Candy boys, etc...) because people do not fight to know who is stronger ( we know who is) but rather to prove the other side wrong and to prove that their named calling was unfair.
« I was right, Zoro did X so I’m not a Zorowanker »
« I was right Sanji did Y so I’m not a Candyboy »
Therefore being proven wrong is a proof that the name calling was fair and accurate so everything become personal. And when you had the whole « W/L » mentality you got countless debate about the same thing again and again
That’s why I always advocate to punish this name calling BS.