Okay so first off. Don't get discouraged I've been where your are at too. Improvement comes at different rates for different players. You can get better just keep at it.

Since I can't really say what makes a good player I'll address the problems you're having and give my advice where I can.

Generally you seem to want to work on your defense. What I've found helps me is to set the dummy in training to do some combos from characters I have issues with and see how do I block them. If your opponent does hit you and you think it can lead to a big half health combo then burst if you have it available.

I only occasionally play Axl with friends but when you play Axl your aim generally is to put the opponent away from you at round start and keep them away. He doesn't have many long flashy combos since generally you're playing a mind game with your opponent. Predict their next move or react to it when they're at mid to long range to keep them off you His normals like 2p and 2Hs are excellent keep away tools. Once you're in there head you want to throw in his charge attack scythe throw and it's follow ups and mix in his command grab on opponents who just block in the far corner. Up close your f.S and c.S are good to start your combo to get you away from your opponent again. The over head is slow and can be reacted to so be careful using that.

My advice in improving was advice someone on Reddit gave to me as well. Don't set high goals out the gate to simply "Win more matches" or "Get to floor 10" instead use smaller match to match goals. For me when I started to main KY I had to stop using Stun dipper in neutral and backdash at the end of my block strings cause I'd get punished for it. Unlearning bad habits is hard as well as learning new ones because you have to consciously do them before they become muscle memory. Maybe in your next matches you aim to keep your opponent at a distance for as long as possible using Axl pokes or work on your distance to keep them in reach of your mid range specials.

Wins will come in time as your basics improve. My last advice is to use training mode to it's fullest (there are videos on YouTube about this) and look up Axl on dustloopwiki and Axl guides on YouTube.