Don't know most of the answers to your many questions but would say the least reliable person to be making a judgement about the attitudes display aeroplanes reach is an observer on the ground.
If the pilots flying the machine said they didn't then I would think they didn't. Certainly there are enough recorders onboard to give them the evidence they need to back up their assertions so you would think that they are less likely to be telling porkies, and given the display routine is tightly scripted, practiced and approved by numerous people someone going rogue on the day is less than likely I would think - certainly in this day and age.
That said I saw an AN124 at the Richmond bicentennial air show in 1988 (in Australia for those that don't know) put on an absolutely cracking display that was awesome and breathtaking to watch and resulted in the crew going to the beach instead of doing the display for the rest of the trade days at least (can't remember if it flew a tamer version on the public days)
https://youtu.be/N5d91CIowtM