None of those are counterexamples. You're arguing that it's possible for the strongest player to be favored to win against everyone else. I said that that isn't a requirement of being the strongest. Obviously it is true that, where one player is favored to win against every other player, that player is the strongest. That's the Condorcet criterion. But it doesn't come close to being true that, if one player is the strongest, that player is favored to win against every other player.
You said it's "never assumed" and I think in many realms it would be assumed. And if the top ranked player consistently lost to certain other players, there would be active debates about whether they are the strongest or not.
