what if your baseline was not so much training? i assume it works by improving recovery, if not someone will need to explain what it's supposed to do to make you stronger. so, given that, your anrcdote indicates you were overtraining before t, and t reduced your recover times so that you were no longer overtraining.

but if you're working well within your ability to recover and you add t and change nothing else, how do you get stronger?

You're arguing against something that's been known for decades: testosterone boosts lean muscle mass gain.

It may have other negative effects, but it does influence muscle mass.

Read the literature, e.g. Bhasin 1996 (and other follow-up studies that reproduced the effects) https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199607043350101

Do teenagers need to work out to get stronger than when they were little children, or are their hormones making them grow regardless? This should be self-explanatory to a good degree.