CygyWrestling.com featured an archive of biographies, results, title histories, pictures, and videos showcasing promotions to the likes of WWE, TNA, ROH, WCW, ECW, and the NWA among others.

Garnering over 7,000 unique hits each month across 88 different countries, CygyWrestling.com became a success in traffic. However, that’s the only marginal success the website would reach.

Entering 2008, I realized I had to move on and let go of my now former love – professional wrestling. After leaving my job with TNA Wrestling officially at the tail end of 2007, I just couldn’t find the time to work on CygyWrestling.com anymore in my spare time. I was either busy making money with a local job, or I was busy studying for school.

Today, much like President George W. Bush will soon find himself, I am unemployed. I currently go to the British Columbia Institute of Technology, where I am studying marketing management and communications. On the side, I write blogs here at MarcusCyganiak.com.

Essentially, CygyWrestling.com was unofficially closed but on this day of November 22, 2008 I officially declare the website closed.

It was a great pleasure being able to be the so-called “informer” or “professor” of wrestling for you all, but my time with that has come and gone.

Thank you for the support over the years in wrestling.

Sincerely,
Marcus “Cygy” Cyganiak

An Italian-born woman, living in Canada, graciously donated a sum of money towards helping me stay active on the blogging front here at MarcusCyganiak.com.

However, she did not have a PayPal account so she contacted me personally by email stating that she was interested in donating money. So through our communications she was able to donate money via paycheck in the mail.

Though this blog is something I enjoy doing, the truth of the matter is that it consumes a lot of my time. So I decided to setup a PayPal account specifically for this blog, and the donation link is visible at the top right of every page and at the bottom of every blog entry. It is my hope that one day I will be able to generate at least a small source of income – that way I can keep writing in an active manner.

Once again, grazie!

Sincerely,
Marcus Cyganiak

Brandon Lee was an actor who was often linked to his legendary father, the great Bruce Lee. However, he desperately wanted to break away from his father’s shadow and become a self-iconic actor. The only way to do that was to no longer take roles in martial art-related films, and instead move towards more dramatic action stylistic films.

The lead role in the 1994-released film, The Crow, was his calling card for individuality.

Shortly before Brandon Lee’s tragic death on March 31, 1993, he took part in an interview on set of The Crow.

In relation to The Crow, Brandon said that, “The world of this film is going to be a better place, once… once the bad guys aren’t there anymore.”

Taking a look at our world beyond the film today with all the wars on-going, those words still hold up today. The bad guys are still here.

Brandon understood life though. He knew that starring in The Crow was a moment to be remembered as the film was to become the quintessential ground roots prospering him to superstardom in Hollywood. He wasn’t going to take it for granted either.

Brandon Lee described a goodwill life reminder to us by saying, “Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well, and yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood… an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps 4 or 5 times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps 20. And yet it all seems limitless.”

That is by far my favourite quote out there, and just from reading it, you really get that sense of appreciation for every matter in life. Sure you can read what’s on the surface of this quote, but you can dig deeper and apply it to every sense and action played out in this world. Apply the quote to yourself too.

For instance…

How many times have I written a blog? Well let’s see, it’s been 48 times now.

How many times have I voted in a Federal Election for the Canadian Prime Minister? Once so far.

How many hockey games have I played? 378 games since 1998.

How many times have I visited my relatives in Italy? Three times – 1996, 2000, and 2007.

How many more times will I remember that evening when my nonno Alfredo Vannucci introduced me to watching wrestling in 1994? Would I not have landed my job with TNA Wrestling in 2004, if it wasn’t for that moment ten years prior?

How many Vancouver Canucks games have I attended? Maybe 20-30 games or more.

How many times will I remember my grandpa Stan Cyganiak carving me a wooden toy during Christmas 2001 in Kitimat, BC?

What about when my late Godmother Dorothy Grabowski took me and my brother on an action figure shopping spree for our birthdays when we were kids?

Or how about when I angered my mom Cristina by putting gum in my brother Derek’s hair when he was still in his stroller, and I was about 4 years old…

It all seems limitless, but the point is that once you put a number to it you truly become grateful for the times you were able to experience each moment in time. No matter the reward or consequence of each matter, they’re learning experiences that we look back on in life.

Don’t take life for granted, or it will take you for granted. Remember to cherish each moment in time because it never comes back.

Brandon Lee cherished all 28 years of his life before he was accidentally killed on set of The Crow. Though he never got to see the release of The Crow in 1994, he went to a better place after fulfilling his personal goals and the task of leaving a positive mark on each and every one of us.

Brandon will forever be remembered best as the white-face painted Eric Draven, a dead-brought-back-to-life character, from The Crow film. That’s individual originality, officially taking him out of his father’s shadow.

One of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself is the feeling of success and reward, and while some often stop there, Brandon Lee didn’t. He decided to spread the gifts by providing wisdom, care, and inspiration to us all. He exuded a balanced thought process, one that should be replicated within us all.

The world would surely be a better place if we followed Brandon Lee’s words. They’re not words of encouragement, nor are they advice; they’re words of reminders.

Realize every moment in time is now and never again. Live each passing moment to the fullest before leaving your life with the sense of completion, no matter how soon or late you pass away.

Though Brandon left at the age of 28, his mother Linda Lee Cadwell said, “You might die at the rightful age of 80, and not have used your life well, or you might have lived your life fully and well at the end of 28, and I think Brandon did that.”

As my 87-year old grandpa Stan tells me, “Life is what you make it.”

The employee at my local Future Shop in Coquitlam, BC told me that they will no longer be carrying TNA Wrestling DVD’s. However, I still saw WWE and UFC DVD’s, so this was quite puzzling to me and that’s when I asked how long and why. I was told that the DVD’s would be gone for an indefinite amount of time, but I could still order the TNA DVD’s through FutureShop.ca, which I have never done before. If I’m going to order wrestling DVD’s, I usually order them at Highspots.com, ROHwrestling.com, or off eBay.

As for the reason why the TNA DVD’s were pulled off the shelf, well Best Buy owns Future Shop, and just recently it was released and publicized that Best Buy is entering financial troubles in the United States. Market sales have gone down tremendously, so they are lessening their stock in retail stores with a push towards online sales instead. Best Buy is expecting to lose a lot of money this Christmas season and I was told that only the essentials will be in stores.

So because I was at the Coquitlam Centre mall, I went to get the TNA Wrestling: Cross The Line DVD box set, featuring Christian Cage on the cover, at HMV since they still carry TNA DVD’s here in Canada. Out of curiosity I also went to Best Buy afterwards across the street, and they too carry TNA DVD’s right now. I was told over there that while Best Buy will be cutting down on the quantity of their stock, it will be Future Shop, their sister company if you will, that will be cutting down at a much quicker rate.

Future Shop has also gone on to no longer carrying certain models of microwaves in their retail stores. If you want to buy a certain one through them, you now have to order it from their warehouse. Though us Canadians have not seen tough economic times yet to the extent of the United States, it’s little things like this that are reminders that this world crisis will inevitably spread everywhere even if it occurs at a slower rate.

Sources:
1) http://www.wrestleview.com/news08/1226699714.shtml
2) http://www.wrestleview.com/news08/1226870341.shtml

Instead, Brock Lesnar did what I feared and that was catching the 45-year old Randy Couture with a thunderous right hand behind his right ear. Couture went crashing down to the canvas, with Lesnar following suite to provide more punishing blows to the head.

The fight was officially stopped in round 2 at 3:07 when Brock Lesnar was named the brand new UFC World Heavyweight Champion via technical knockout by way of strikes to Randy Couture.

The UFC World Heavyweight Championship joins Brock Lesnar’s trophy case of past accomplishments in the professional wrestling to the likes of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship three times, winning the 2002 WWE King of the Ring, winning the 2003 WWE Royal Rumble, and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

We must not forget Lesnar’s amateur wrestling accolades as well, which are the accomplishments that really shaped the foundation and legitimacy of Brock Lesnar initially becoming an MMA fighter and UFC star. Those accomplishments include the 2000 NCAA Division I Championship, the NJCAA All-American in 1997 and 1998, the 1998 Junior College National Championship, the Big Ten Conference Championship in 1999 and 2000, and the North Dakota State University’s annual Bison tournament Heavyweight Championship in 1997, 1998, and 1999.

Brock Lesnar has done it all from dominating amateur wrestling, to headlining WrestleMania, forgoing a brief stint in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, to entering the sport of mixed martial arts upon becoming the UFC World Heavyweight Champion in his fourth pro fight.

Brock Lesnar is not “the next big thing,” he IS the big thing!

The first title defense for Brock Lesnar will come sometime in 2009 against the winner of UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir at UFC 92 on December 27, 2008. The two clear champions will face off in a unification fight to create an undisputed UFC World Heavyweight Champion.

What a full circle of events it would be if Frank Mir were to become the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. He would be facing the current UFC World Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar, to unify the titles, and as we all know, Lesnar lost his first UFC fight to Frank Mir at UFC 81 on February 2, 2008 by a kneebar submission hold. Lesnar was heavily criticized for the loss due to his lack of awareness inside the Octagon on the technicality front of fighting.

As we then saw though, Brock came back on August 9, 2008 at UFC 87 and defeated Heath Herring via decision at the end of 3 rounds. The Brock Lesnar we saw from the Herring fight was a totally new fighter from the Mir fight in the sense of smarts and ring awareness. He fought the fight as if he owned the place and he used the real estate he was given to his full advantage by charging Herring full on. This was the domination and confidence Lesnar lacked against Frank Mir.

Finally, Brock Lesnar was able to master his craft at UFC 91 on November 15, 2008 by earning himself his third MMA victory against Randy Couture for the sport’s richest prize – the UFC World Heavyweight Title. UFC President Dana White no longer has to sell us on the Brock Lesnar hype because the hype speaks for itself in the Octagon now.

Brock Lesnar is for real folks.

Current UFC World Heavyweight Champion, Randy “The Natural” Couture puts the prestigious title on the line against former professional wrestler and 3-time WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar.

Most people are picking Brock Lesnar as the man to win this bout, but despite Couture being out of the sport for just over a year due to contract issues, I still think he has it. Couture has this fight won if he can take it to the ground and execute all the crucial amateur wrestling maneuvers in place of Lesnar’s lack thereof for the ground game.

We saw Brock Lesnar totally demolish Frank Mir at UFC 81 on February 2, 2008 with his brute force punches. Ultimately though, it was Mir synching in a leg lock for the submissive win over the strong force.

On August 9, 2008 at UFC 87, Brock Lesnar earned his first UFC win via decision over Heath Herring by controlling him on the ground. Though Lesnar looked impressive, Heath Herring is no Randy Couture.

Randy Couture, the only UFC fighter to be champion in two weight class divisions, thrives on working his opponent on the ground. So unless Brock Lesnar can knock him out with some quick punches early on, I think we’ll see Randy Couture retain the UFC World Heavyweight Title by submission on the ground. If I had to put my money on it, the fight will end in the third round.

Yes Randy Couture is 45 years old, while Brock is 31, but during his 40’s Randy has beaten some very credible fighters and champions of the Octagon. I’m talking about fighters like Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Mike Van Arsdale, Tim Sylvia, and Gabriel Gonzaga. So as you can see that adding Brock Lesnar to that list of victims is not beyond reach for Randy Couture.

Either way, we’ll either see Brock Lesnar living up to the hype, or falling victim to a push received from Dana White way too soon in his mixed martial arts career.

It’s all about Brock Lesnar tonight as he enters the championship fight at 265 lbs with a green record of 2-1, against Randy Couture’s record of 24-8 at 220 lbs. Of course we cannot forget Couture’s other accolades, such as his three reigns as UFC World Heavyweight Champion and three reigns as UFC World Light Heavyweight Champion (once as interm champion), making him the only 6-time champion in UFC history.

Governor Sarah Palin is of course the former Vice Presidential candidate of the Republican Party ticket, alongside former Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, in the 2008 Presidential Election. The Democratic Party ultimately won the vote on November 4, 2008 with now President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden ready to take office on January 20, 2009.

In the press released that was issued by TNA Wrestling, they explain that regardless of Sarah Palin’s acception to appear or not, they will be holding a “Sarah Palin Ceremony.”

A positive out of this is that TNA will be donating $50,000 to either a charity of Palin’s choice or by default the Youth Hockey Association in Wasilla, Alaska.

Who knows whether Sarah Palin will accept the offer or not, but it definitely would be a spectacle to see her lay the smackdown on someone!

TNA has stated that if Governor Palin chooses to appear, she will become an honorary TNA Knockout as a member of “The Beautiful People” faction, which is comprised with Canadian wrestler Angelina Love and American wrestler Velvet Sky, along with their manager Cute Kip, formally known as Billy Gunn with the WWE.

Though it is doubtful that this publicity stunt will increase any form of buy rate for TNA Wrestling’s pay-per-view in December, this news has been picked up by a few credible publications, such as the USA Today among others. So the word of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is certainly thriving from this.

If that’s all they can get out of this, then that in itself is a success for the promotion which airs its TNA “iMPACT!” program on Spike TV every Thursday at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT.

Source:
1) http://www.tnawrestling.com/content/view/357/84/

The warnings of a Third World War have been present ever since the conclusion of World War II in 1945. Just because Russia has recently reprised the scare of a Third World War does not necessarily mean we will be enacting in one, if ever. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has used this tactic, along with the term “new Cold War,” as a way to instill fear within the American government and people. This instilled fear perpetrated by Putin goes with hopes of dictating the United States’ political ventures worldwide.

United States President-elect Barack Obama promises to work with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin by means of diplomacy to mend any on-going tensions left behind by the Bush Administration. A rekindled relationship between the United States and Russia would put off any potential threat of World War III, and if President-elect Barack Obama can also detract Israel from attacking Iran like he plans, then the world will certainly look prosperous.

The act of democracy can allude back to that old saying of “keeping your friends close, and your enemies closer.” Barack Obama has promised change, and diplomacy is part of his itinerary.

With power comes responsibility, and I definitely feel when Barack Obama is handed over the power to govern the United States of America, he will humbly do so with great responsibility.

Such an attack on America “would make 9/11 insignificant,” said Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

On Barack Obama’s first day as President-Elect, he immediately received threats via US intelligence that Israel are plotting to attack Iran before he is sworn into the White House on January 20, 2009. Russia has also gone into high-gear in noting that they are enforcing their own missile defense systems bordering Poland to counteract the US-stationed missile defense system there.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said, “we will not retreat,” when dealing with the United States in Europe. Former Russian President Putin believes that President George W. Bush has setup multiple missile defense shield systems across Europe to keep a close eye and target on Russia. Contrary to that claim, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice diligently state that these stations in Europe are nothing but goodwill safety measures put forth for the EU, Nato allies, and American interests upon fending off terrorists, extremists, and notably Iran.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ignored President Bush and Condoleezza Rice’s claims with triggers ready to attack.

So with Russia visibly upset with the United States and Iran being an ally of Russia, one has to wonder where these world leaders outside of that inner circle are receiving the nuclear bomb threats from. You can go ahead and add in Korea and China into the mix since they have nuclear bombs as well, and are too allies of Russia.

Among the nations that have publically stated they have received the cryptic threats include Australia, England, France, and the United States.

Is any of this a surprise for anyone though?

The now Vice President-elect Joe Biden had some chilling comments to make during the campaign trail just a week prior to Election Day. He repeatedly told us, “Mark my words, mark my words.” Barack Obama is going to be tested with a “generated crisis” within the first six months he explained.

So would an attack on America, potentially larger in catastrophe to 9/11 as Australian PM put it, be the crisis Joe Biden is referring to? Does Biden know something we do not?

Joe Biden also went on to say, “I can give you at least four or five scenarios from where it might originate, and he’s (Barack Obama) going to need help. And the kind of help he’s going to need is, he’s going to need you – not financially to help him – we’re going to need you to use your influence, your influence within the community, to stand with him. Because it’s not going to be apparent initially, it’s not going be apparent that we’re right.”

Confused yet? Well while I can join you on that trail of confusion, I still want to figure this out.

An obvious note of observation is that these high level politicians around the world all seem to be coordinated with these warnings received. I’m talking about Vice President-elect Joe Biden, even former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, another former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and finally Admiral Lord Alan West of the British Home Office as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.

Are all these high level politicians preparing the world for a crisis of gigantic fatal measures?

When looking back at the US invasion in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2003 as part of the War on Terror, and most recently the US embarking on attacks in Syria and Pakistan shortly after the Russian invasion in Georgia, you just have to wonder if these events are the prelude to World War III. These high level politicians are certainly painting the picture that way.

So now I take you to the overall big picture:

• Russia continues to threaten a new Cold War, with missiles lined up to attack Poland because of the US missile defense shield system agreement that was signed. Should that shield system officially be built, Russia states that they will deploy missile attacks.
• Russia has the capability of launching missiles from Russian soil to American soil.
• Iran too claims to soon have the same capabilities in being able to launch missiles over to US soil.
• Israel continues to send out warnings that they will be attacking Iran, which would call for US troops’ help.
• President George W. Bush has expressed an interest in attacking Iran before his run in the oval office is over because of Iran’s nuclear program to produce nuclear weapons.
• Russia will attack US troops and Israeli troops, should an attack on Iran become apparent.
• Korea has sent out threats of attack to the United States in the past and they too carry the capacity of nuclear bombs while being allies of Russia and Iran.
• You can add China into the list of allies with Russia.

Does this not look like one big circle of tension to you? It sure does to me, and it’s one that is growing far too tight in tension now. As a result, it could only be a matter of days, weeks, or months before one nation pulls the trigger to ignite World War III.

Sources:
1) http://www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com/israelnews/politics/80-political/335-warnings-from-world-leaders-all-within-72-hours-.html
2) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amM6gBY9JgJA&refer=home
3) http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iyTh4daEIukZscHQWC558dEr3x5gD94BR7FG0
4) http://www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com/israelnews/israel-news/83-israeli-news/407-israel-war-on-iran-on-the-radar.html