To make it all more complicated there is “physics recoil” and “perceived recoil”.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. A bullet flys out of one end of a gun, the gun moves backwards in the opposite direction. Force is mass multiplied by acceleration, and work... okay... lots of equations and areas under curves calculus stuff.
Since the gun weighs much more than the bullet and powder, it moves backwards more slowly. Except there is a human hand gripping the gun (pistol) tightly. So there is an effect of the mass of the hand, arm, body of the human all composed with things like fit of the grip to the hand, strength of muscles, technique (does the pistol make a broad arc ending with the pistol pointed at the sky, or is the force directed straight back to the shoulder) friction (grip to hand and absorption of energy by the grip material) then there is how fast this all happens... “fast” powders getting the bullet to 1000 FPS in 2” of barrel or “slow” powders getting the same bullet to 1000 FPS but accelerating along and needing 6” of barrel To get up to speed, effects that delay energy transfers like the reciprocation of the slide and rubber grips (rubber absorbs but bounces... delays some force, materials like Sorbothane deform and turn the energy in to heat due to friction inside the chemistry of the stuff) and the bottom line is...
There is no free lunch- the more whup-@ you deliver the more it hurts your mitten.
I am of the old school when it comes to pistols- it’s always better to start with a bigger hole. If a bullet expand, a bigger one expands even bigger. If it doesn’t you still have a big hole.
Based on many years of hunting I guarantee you that for all options even remotely practical, shot placement is vastly more important than the energy of the projectile. There is no replacement for proper shot placement.
I’m also weary of marketing. Everyone always trying to invent something new in order to sell me something. If it wasn’t for the safety factor of not loading in to older firearms, you could call 9mm “.38 Special Rimless” as far as I care. .45 is always good for big holes and momentum for those who can handle the recoil. .380 you can call “9mm light” and .32 you can call “This sure is fun to shoot and no, I would not like to be standing on the wrong side of this one either.” What about .22? Call that .22 because from CB caps to .22 magnum it’s still best for shooting small game and no, you don’t want to be standing on the wrong side of it. When I was a kid my friend Steve shot his older brother Gary in the butt with a .22 CB cap as Gary was a mean big brother. Even though it only penetrated two layers of denim and maybe an eighth of an inch of skin, Gary was rolling on the ground incapacitated. I bravely ran away while Steve dealt with the consequences of his actions. The bruise a week later was impressive.
This is a long ramble on the treatise of “don’t overthink the bisket... and don’t worry about advertising and guys arguing about “who would win, Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris or Darth Vader.” It’s all good.