Well, if you are new to Linux, it is better if you just install new distros to try them, I would go to Arch Linux as it’s the cleanest distro, I could install multiple DE without issues, but then it’s a bit mess of packages, also it’s harder to install, you need to type archinstall and understand their options. I have a desktop and laptop and I always use the laptop for testing, if you copy the ~/.config folder, you can restore all your applications settings (just copy the app settings you are using), ~/.mozilla to restore your browser as you had it before the wipe and some more settings are under ~/.local. I also copy my ~/.zshrc because I have a custom prompt, configs, add-ons, alias…

Maybe it will be best to give up right now and use GNOME. I hate it, but let’s be honest most of the time people are running KDE and others will end up with a bunch of GNOME/GTK/libadwaita components and creating a Frankenstein of a system because some specific App depends on said components.

There’s no point on running anything else if you’ll end up with parts of GNOME and inconsistencies all over the place.

Not sure about others but in PopOS (and I assume Ubuntu) it’s pretty simple. Probably easy with most distros.

apt install gnome-desktop
apt install kde-standard
apt install xubuntu-desktop
apt install cinnamon-desktop-environment
apt install xfce4 xfce4-goodies
etc.

Maybe this will help https://github.com/89luca89/distrobox

Not sure how current it is, but LinuxBBQ has a live CD (Cream) with a bunch of WMs installed that you can easily switch between.