Brand Awareness 101. I think it was Mercedes who touched on AEW "focusing on them and doing their own thing" instead of focusing on whatever the competition is doing and that is ultimately what AEW's goal should always be moving forward even if they get these new TV deals.
People can't expect a company that's been around for 5 years to compete with a company that's been around for 60+ years, it goes back to brand awareness. That is built over time. Brands aren't built and recognizable within a few years. Just because Tony Khan is a billionaire means nothing. You can buy talent but you can't build brand awareness just by having that talent on payroll.
It's the history of favorable memories that maintains an audience and builds loyal supporters. In the 2010's and beyond people complained and complained about WWE but they would say "Remember when WWE was like this....." because they have a brand awareness and loyal support who are willing to check out what they are doing regardless of whether the current product is good or not.
The best way to compete is to worry about yourself and differentiate yourself. If you are going to be WWE Lite, you are capping yourself at a small market share of consumers. There's only so much wrestling a casual viewer is going to consume.
I don't think a completely different product is their answer, it has to be somewhat like WWE in the sense of pushing big personalities and having a great production team but the stories themselves and in-ring action is where they can separate.