That is, why does adding the 「も」 particle to question words give it a
universal, for lack of a better term, word. It's not even always required to
be there, as in sentences like

> お好み焼きが何よりいい  
>  _Okonomiyaki is better than anything_

which is just as correct as using 「よりも」 as far as I'm aware.
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meaning particle-も polarity-items
Why does 何も mean "anything"?
I believe this is related to one of the meanings of も.

> も - _prt._ A marker which indicates emphasis.

It's used in sentences like:

> 私は漢字を一つも知らない。
>
> I don't even know 1 kanji.

This can be used the same way with 何:

> 何も知らない、ジョン・スノウ。
>
> (lit.) You don't even know [one] thing, Jon Snow.
>
> You don't know anything, Jon Snow.

In this sense it doesn't quite make it a universal word. It just happens that
"even one thing" coincides with the more natural translation "anything".

* * *

To address the use of よりも, the も is the same emphasis marker. When combined
with より it emphasizes the speaker's opinion that there really is nothing
better than Okonomiyaki.
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