Never quite seen it that bad, though 30+ years ago, turbulence did seem worse, but maybe that was the way the VC10 punched its way through turbulence rather than the Boeing 'wallow'!
I think almost all pilots would let the aeroplane ride through a vortex encounter rather than slam the controls, especially rudder, to their limits. I can't believe the wake encounter was 'extreme'. Severe maybe, but this is an Airbus widebody following a heavy, and it could handle it. Throw into the mix a pilot with a habit of running controls to their stops to try and keep the aeroplane on the straight and narrow, and we have a ready-made disaster. I hope everybody has been educated since that sometimes it's better to let the disturbance take its course and gently correct afterwards rather than come out with all guns blazing to keep exactly on the bead. It must never happen again.