Tonight a chef served AB sooty raw pork and he gave "worst dish" to another chef because theirs was bland. I'm fine with that kind of judging.
He has developed a snarky persona when dealing with tv chefs, but they can take it. They've no doubt heard worse, and he mainly brings out the snark to call them out on their bs. He knows by now the tv chef tricks and says so. That's for everyone's benefit.
I'll grant that AB has presented himself as an authority when that's not always the case, but he probably knows more about food by now than many professional cooks. And if any of the participating chefs thought AB wasn't up to the job, you can bet they would say so and you can bet it would be a part of the show.
That said, this is not Iron Chef and shouldn't carry the name. It's nowhere close.