Being married to an italian, I make a lot of pizza crust! I’ve done the yeast both ways - start it in warm water first or put it in directly with the flour, salt, etc. My preferred method is the 2nd way. I always add a bit of sugar with it too even if the recipe doesn’t call for sugar. It doesn’t make the dough sweet, but seems to add the extra oomph it needs. My dough always rises up. Maybe your yeast was a dud. And I feel for you about the italian crusty bread. It sounds like you need to keep experimenting! I could live on bread too!