Well, counterintuitively, there may well exist people who are competent at handling the aircraft but rubbish at exams
Very certainly, there are such pilots, I know a few. However, they keep themselves entirely in the private flying world, solo, in a plane they own. In times past, great hands and feet might have got you through, but today, the complex systems of an airliner, and complex airspace, surely would require a good working knowledge of "groundschool" type things.....