I have absolutely seen this in my field. The top-of-its-field journal editor actually requested our paper for publication and one of the reviewers poured vinega

I have absolutely seen this in my field. The top-of-its-field journal editor actually requested our paper for publication and one of the reviewers poured vinegar all over it, creating requirements literally no paper of this kind had ever been held to. We actually sent it to another journal, and got the verbatim same review back. They had sent it to the same top reviewer. Amazingly, said reviewer comes out with a pre-print of a similar paper that addresses some of his own concerns, about 9 months later. Amazing how that happened, hmmm? The one consolation is that at least we know who's reviewing, who's an asshole, and that this space is as hot as we thought it was.