Bike advice quick release thru axle lever videos included

It does not look good.

You may be better letting a shop give it a shot vs. risking damaging anything else. I am sure a good shop has seen this more than any of us here and will be able to try to get it out without damaging anything else along the way.

In the forums I saw it seemed like some drastic things had to happen like cutting hubs, etc.

I'm not too familiar with the style of thru-axle you have in there right now. Most are effectively just plain old bolts with an internal hex fitting on either end. The DT Swiss RWS axle you have as the new one is a proven alternative. It does look to be some kind of expansion plug-type thing though, so try giving the lever a good whack with a hammer. Perhaps the wedge that expands the end of the axle got stuck or is corroded in place.

Other options include:

• Use either slip joint pliers, vice grip pliers, or a pipe wrench to grab the exposed part of the axle on the non-drive side and remove it.
• Use a rotary tool to cut wrench flats on the axle so you can put a wrench on it to unscrew it.