RESOLVED.
I was working with a router supplied by my ISP, COX. As mentioned above, they moved their port forwarding to a website instead of allowing me to make changes within the router itself.
Today, I hit my breaking point in trying to fix this issue (thanks, gojinki, for the advice, I did check what you posted) and purchased my own router from their approved list (Arris SBG6950AC2) for $125.
After getting this router onto COX's systems, I set up the WiFi and LAN settings to what I had before, then input my port forwarding into the router.
I booted up the server (about 5