“Virgin Megastore is one of those places that’s like … wow … it’s in Times Square in New York City,” Maria says. “To be here is overwhelming, it’s exciting, and I’m completely humbled by the entire experience. I signed autographs for hundreds of fans in an hour. It was insane. There were so many fans here. It was just amazing.”

Maria’s life has been a whirlwind lately. Whether wwe maria’s at Raw on a Monday night, or shooting her Playboy pictorial in Los Angeles, or now, promoting her magazine across the country, the Diva always takes a moment to reflect on her happiness and thank our loyal fans.

“I appreciate all the fans who came out today, I really do. I want to thank them so much for buying the magazine,” Maria says. “I think and I hope that they’ll be pleasantly surprised and happy with it. It was lots of fun doing it, so I hope they enjoy it. And thank you, again, as always.”

Many of our fans at the Virgin Megastore to see Maria are awed by the Diva’s graciousness and beauty, and are even more impressed by her in person.

“wwe maria’s gorgeous and wwe maria’s real. I told her that only wwe maria could make me buy Playboy,” says female fan Vicky Corban.

“wwe maria’s one of my favorite Divas,” adds Desiree Lorick. “wwe maria is so nice. wwe maria is so sweet and so pretty. The pictures are gorgeous. I’m so glad Maria had creative control because I think they’re some of the best Playboy pictures there has ever been.”

Maria says wwe maria loves the magazine and wouldn’t change a thing about it, even though at first wwe maria had her doubts about the cover.

“I’m so happy and so amazed. I love the cover shot,” wwe maria says. “There were three different covers, and I thought I really wanted the gold one, but now seeing this one and seeing how it turned out and seeing how the fans responded to it, you could see the passion in my eyes in the photo and I look like me.

“Wrestling is where I really got my start, where I had the opportunity, where someone saw something in me to even let me do this crazy job. So, I’m glad. I’m very, very happy with it,” Maria smiles.

As for the sexier shots within the magazine, the Diva truly hopes our fans are delighted with the surprises inside.

“I love the cover, I really do, but there is a shot inside that it looks like I’m saying, ‘Hmmm, I’m hiding something! I got a secret!’ ” Maria giggles as wwe maria flips through the pages of her issue.

“It is the one where I’m leaning on the headboard and my hair looks all cool and perfect, and it shows my legs, and I’m actually like, ‘Oh, OK, I do have legs!’ because I never felt like a leggy girl. But I started hitting the gym like a crazy woman and now I look at it and I’m like, ‘I worked on those legs and I’m happy with them!’ ” wwe maria smiles.

While wwe maria has plenty more Playboy promotion this month, the Diva is also focused on teaming up with Candice Michelle in the ring at WrestleMania XXIV for the BunnyMania Match.

“I’m already thinking to myself, in my mind, what I want to do in the match. I want it to be a match that our fans remember,” wwe maria says. “I don’t want it to be like, ‘Yeah, well, that was all right.’ I want them to be blown away. So I want to give it my all, I want to give it everything I’ve got. Passion is my motivation.”

Maria’s hopes and dreams seem to be endless, as the Diva’s success is skyrocketing in and out of the WWE ring. Our fans certainly won’t be disappointed to hear the Diva is eager to entertain and delight for many years to come.

“There are lots of things I want to do. First off, I want to be in a WWE Film, so bad. I really want to film a movie. There are other things that are up-and-coming, but I don’t want to say much about them … They are secrets!” wwe maria laughs.

“And I would love to get the WWE Women’s Championship, but I want it to be right and I want it to be at a time where our fans will be like, ‘Yeah, wwe maria won that fair and square. wwe maria won it, and put her heart and soul into it and won it.’… I just want to win it in a way that our fans can remember,” wwe maria says in a serious tone.

And don’t be surprised if Maria turns up in Playboy again some time. The Diva reveals wwe maria’d pose again in a heartbeat.

“I love the magazine. But are there things I’d like to do in the future when I do the next one? Yes. Am I going to do another one? Hopefully,” wwe maria says with a coy smile. “If I were to do another shoot, I know what I would love for the theme to be. I really don’t want to say because it will be a nice surprise in the future.”

Finally, before Maria ruwwe marias off to pick up her Chihuahua, Gemini, and catch an airplane to the next stop on her whirlwind Playboy tour – her hometown of Chicago – wwe maria makes a point to sincerely thank our fans.

“I have to say thank you so much for all your support. It’s incredible to be a part of WWE,” wwe maria says. “Every day is a blessing to be able to come out in front of 20,000 people and at WrestleMania it’s going to be a 70,000. It’s the biggest rush in the world, and they are the greatest fans in the world. So thank you so much. Always go after your dreams, and don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t!”