I don't agree with that really. If a team beats another team in a football match that only means they scored more goals. They dont consider number of freekicks, corners, ball possession, total value of the club etc. Just the scores. So for GPUs, I think it only means beating in performance unless it is specified. But let's dont want get stuck on words.
I guess I reacted that way because it felt weird without a conclusive result. W1z had not said 'Beats 7900XTX" in 4080S first reviews, didnt even mentioned it in Pros-Cons list. That card was also similar in raster and conclusively beat it at RT. And they were more relevant as they were directly competed with each other.
7900XTX is more than 2 years old at this point. This is kinda equivalent to saying "4070S - Beating 6950XT" in first reviews (similar raster and RT performance diffs). And those cards were actually closer by their release dates than these two. They were also similarly priced back then...