I think the counter argument to that is that nothing is stopping someone who doesn’t pay RL money from getting carried. Either they muster up the gold themselves or they find a group willing to carry them pro-bono. The money isn’t a requirement for it. (To say nothing of the fact that that selfsame gear can be won by just being a Mythic-level raider and not needing to be carried in the first place.)
In-game transactions have existed for as long as there has been trading in MMOs. That includes players offering their services as powerful players and not just goods. That has also existed since MMOs began. Are we seriously going to call in-game player trading pay 2 win just because the WoW token exists?