I feel the Yonko were handled better they were hyped up as these overwhelming forces that even the Marines were afraid of and they live up to that hype.
It took ridiculous plot tropes to defang Big Mom, but Whitebeard as are first introduction lived up to the hype.
Meanwhile the warlords while imposing still got taken down by Luffy at a regular rate, and never felt terrifyingly strong by themselves (mihawk excluded)