I played so much of the original game in high school, and I love that this sequel has a lot more replayability because of more variety in the level design and new modifiers. The controls feel more sensitive, like short kicks have more power, based on my memory, but I can't play the original so I can't compare now. I think that makes for a better game, though, because it was easy to get stuck in a corner in the original, where there was no room for a big kick, and short kicks wouldn't do much. I just wish the character models were thicker like in the original.
Thanks! You can play the original still in FlashPoint. Perhaps I'll go back to thicker wrestlers in WJ3 :---)