Playboy founder Hugh Hefner loves beautiful women, and over the years, he has loved the beautiful Divas of WWE. Ashley is the latest lovely Diva to grace the cover of Playboy magazine, which hit newsstands nationwide on Monday.

The challenger to Melina’s WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 23 sat down recently with the silk pajama and smoking jacket-wearing legend for the latest edition of Superstar to Superstar. She found that the 80-year-old still has a way with the ladies:

Ashley: First of all, Hef, I just want to say I had the greatest time of my life posing for Playboy. All my friends and family who’ve seen the magazine keep telling me how great it looks, and I’m really, really happy I got to do it.

Hefner: Well, I think it’s going to be a big seller.

Ashley: I’m Playboy’s sixth-ever WWE cover girl. What is it about your publication and WWE that works so well together?

Hefner: Well, I think there’s a similarity in terms of demographics. WWE has a strong, young male following, and so does the magazine. And we both love beautiful ladies.

Ashley: Exactly. You kind of remind me of WWE’s Chairman, Mr. McMahon. You both like being involved with every aspect of your business (though you’re a lot nicer going about it than he is). Walk us through an average workday for you, if you will.

Hefner: Well it starts in the late morning-early afternoon. It usually deals with our editorial offices, [which] are in primarily in Chicago and New York. So, I have telephonic communications with my art director, my editors. That’s the first part of my day. I have what they call a “brownbook dummy” of the upcoming issues, and I go through that, look at the layout [and] see what’s working, what’s not working. I still pick the covers. I still pick the Playmate of the Month, go over all the layouts and pictorials…. So, I’m still actively involved in the editorial end of the magazine.

Ashley: Awesome. Mr. McMahon is very involved in our stuff as well. After World War II, you studied to be a cartoonist in the Chicago Art Institute. Is that where you developed your fascination with anatomy?

Hefner: I was fascinated with cartooning at a very early age. I think Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse had a lot to do with that. And then when I was a kid, in both grade school and high school, I wrote a lot of mystery stories and horror stories and did comic books. And then when I was in high school, I started a cartoon autobiography of my life. Then, I continued [with the cartoon biography] after I graduated from high school and continued after I went into the army (because I served in World War II). And then I continued through college, and I continued the cartoon autobiography until I got married. And then it turned into a scrapbook, and that scrapbook continues to this day. There are over 2,000 volumes. So, I have a graphic autobiography of my entire life.

Ashley: Wow! That is so amazing.

Hefner: I earned my first penny in newspapers when I was 9 years old. I created my first newspaper when I was in grade school. So, in effect, I was in rehearsal for Playboy throughout my entire childhood.

Ashley: It’s no secret that you’re a huge movie buff, and that you host movie nights inside the Playboy Mansion. Which movie do you most enjoy watching while snuggling up with your Bunnies?

Hefner: My all-time favorite movie is Casablanca, with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. I particularly love the old classic films that I grew up with, so on Friday and Saturday nights, we run what we call Casablanca nights. Tonight, we will be running a precode musical from the early 1930s, and I’ll actually read some notes about that. I do that every Friday, and on Sunday, we run a new film. This week, we’re running Zodiac, which I’m looking forward to very much.

Ashley: I love all kinds of music – alternative, metalcore, Sinatra – you name it. Which sorts of tunes get Hugh Hefner in the mood?

Hefner: I like all kinds for all sorts of purposes. I certainly like contemporary music when I’m dancing with the girls or when we’re partying. But my own personal favorites are the music I grew up with. Most of that is jazz, including Sinatra – the romantic music of my childhood.

Ashley: WWE fans know me as an aggressive WWE Diva, in and out of the ring. Do aggressive women intrigue you, or do you like being the one in charge?

Hefner: Probably depends on the woman. (laughs)

Ashley: (Laughs) That’s a good answer.

Hefner: One of the things that’s fascinating for me, quite frankly, is that I’m approaching my 81st birthday and I still do very well with the ladies.

Ashley: Awesome! I love that. That’s fantastic! What is Hugh Hefner’s idea of a perfect woman? Is it purely physical or do you look for something else?

Hefner: Oh, I definitely look for something else. I think the physical is very important but in addition to being physically attractive, I think honesty, a good sense of humor, somebody who’s sincere – that’s what it’s all about. I think the last part, quite frankly, is magic. You can have half a dozen girls – or in your case, half a dozen guys in your case – and one stands out for reasons that are almost impossible to define.

Ashley: Exactly. Sometimes you just have that spark and sometimes you don’t.

Hefner: You know I have three girlfriends at the present time that live here at the Playboy Mansion. About two years ago we started a reality show on the E! channel called The Girls Next Door.

Ashley: That’s right. Congratulations on the success of that show. I hear it’s in its third season on E! It seems to be getting more popular every week…. Is there anything coming up this year in the Playboy Mansion or with Holly, Bridget and Kendra that we can look forward to (without giving too much away)?

Hefner: We’re going to be spending a birthday celebration in Vegas. We just opened the first Playboy club-casino in 25 years at The Palms in Las Vegas. So, we’ll be going back and having a birthday party there late this month…. And that will be in the show.

Ashley: I love being a WWE Diva, so I don’t know if I can ever see myself truly settling down. How about you? I heard that you may have gotten engaged to Holly.

Hefner: Holly is the No. 1 girl in my life, and I don’t expect that to change. There’s been stuff in the newspapers about marriage and children. We’ll see. I haven’t been very lucky with marriage; I’ve been married twice. I think relationships often change when a person gets married.

Ashley: Right. And if you have a good thing going, why change it?

Hefner: You don’t want to screw it up.

Ashley: Right.

Hefner: But she certainly is the love of my life.

Ashley: Even before I joined WWE, my friends and I attended several of your world famous parties in the Playboy Mansion, which I had tons of fun at, by the way. What’s one of the craziest things you remember ever happening at one of them (that you can discuss) (laughs)?

Hefner: That’s a tough one. (laughs) We’ve been partying for a long, long time. We have theme parties every year, and I think the most popular one probably is the Midsummer Night’s Dream party where the dress code is pajamas and lingerie.

Ashley: That’s always the most fun.

Hefner: And then we have a really awesome Halloween party, too, with remarkable costumes and a whole elaborate haunted house.

Ashley: Everyone always loves your parties. It’s a common assumption that Hugh Hefner is always surrounded by Playboy Bunnies and wearing a smoking jacket. But I know there’s a lot more to you than that. Tell us how Hef the person compares to Hef the persona.

Hefner: Well, what you see is pretty much what you get. I’ve been out there in a public way for a lot of years. When people ask me whether I’m different from what I appear to be, I think it depends on the eye of the beholder. I think my life, in a very real way, is like an ink blot test or a shark test. I think that people project their own fantasies, dreams or prejudices onto both Playboy and my life. It says a great a deal, at least as much about the person who comments on either Playboy or about my life as it does about me.

Ashley: I agree. I think a lot of people would say the same about me. They ask, “Are you different than the person we see on TV?” I say, “Well, the person on the show is me. I am Ashley. This is the person you see on TV, and it’s the same person that you would run into on the street. So, when your life is documented and you’re on television or you’re a public figure, like yourself, I think you tend to be more yourself than a persona.

After more than 50 years, which Playboy centerfold or cover girl stands out as Hef’s favorite, besides Marilyn Monroe?

Hefner: Certainly Pamela Anderson. At the present moment, for sad reasons, Anna Nicole [Smith].

Ashley:  I’m very lucky to have accomplished so much here at WWE, but I’d love to become Women’s Champion someday. Is there anything that Hugh Hefner hasn’t done, but still hopes to achieve?

Hefner: Well, quite frankly, what I’m really looking for is more of the same…. It doesn’t get better than this.