In less than five years of existence, The Flamin' Aces – “Playboy” Zaye Perez and “Hot Shot” Spencer Scott – have set the PNW tag team wrestling scene on fire, establishing themselves as one of the most sought after pairings the region has to offer. In a tag team scene that is jam-packed with talent and charisma, setting yourself apart isn't an easy task, but it's something The Flamin' Aces have accomplished in town after town. I was in the building when they debuted for 365 in Victoria – a city with a crowd with little knowledge of indie wrestling outside of their home promotion(s). When Perez and Scott came out from behind the curtain, it took the 365 crowd about a half-trip around the ring to turn into absolute lunatics for the Flamin' Aces. Cheers, claps, shrieks; the Aces brought it out of us before they even stepped into the ring. Once they got between the ropes, The Flamin' Aces backed up the hype, flipping and diving around the ring like maniacs, while also beautifully executing non-flipping wrestling maneuvers (important!). Their in-ring heroics and magnetic personalities have made Perez and Scott favourites on the Canadian west coast, an area that has embraced them and welcomed them from day one. The duo has been frequent guests here on the Canadian west coast working in all of the dopest promotions including 365, BOOM! Invoke, NEW and Wrestlecore.

Earlier this year, Rags Music caught up with Zaye and Scott before their summer trip to Vancouver where they won, and probably broke, hearts at Invoke and Pride Style's “To Love and Lariat.” In all fairness, we did catch up for a piece for Invoke Pro Wrestling – which is still forthcoming, so keep your eyes peeled for the deep wrestling-nerd shit with that one – but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to get one of our favourite tag teams to answer the 5 Questions. Thankfully, they were game for questions about first albums (however embarrassing), mentors and having a good cry. So sit back, tap in and get to know some things about your new favourite tag team, the Flamin' Aces.

Tap in
Zaye Perez on Instagram / Twitter
Spencer Scott on Instagram / Twitter
Flamin' Aces on Instagram

Photo courtesy the phenomenally talented @arealgoldmouth

1. What’s the first album you remember buying with your own money?
Scott: I think it was Good:AM by Mac Miller. I was a huge Mac Miller fan before he passed away. He came to my town one time to my college to do a concert and I missed getting tickets for it. I stood outside of the auditorium, so you could still hear it, so it was kind of like I was there. I had tickets for the Swimming Tour but obviously that didn’t happen. But I had tickets and I was going to go! That was the first album I bought on CD. The first album I remember loving that was a hip-hop album was Man on the Moon by Kid Cudi. When I was working my first job, I was a pizza delivery driver and I had that CD in my car and I would run through it the whole time.

Perez: This is so embarrassing. I remember buying the first...UGH...don't hate me. I remember buying, 1989. Jesus. If I could get it back, I would get a refund, you know. I'm not really a Taylor Swift fan anymore really. She was good at one point, but not any more.

2. What’s a good memory you have of a mentor or teacher?
Scott: Honestly, I didn’t have a ton of teachers or mentors I had great relationships with when I was a kid. I kind of struggled with coaches and stuff. I got put on the bench a lot and I didn’t really like that. But I would say Ricky Gibson and Jaiden have been two of the biggest mentors to me in wrestling. They’ve given me a lot of advice, how to navigate and how to be a professional. Both of them, but Ricky obviously is the one who taught me how to wrestle. Ricky, Eddie and Flex, but Ricky is the main one. Anytime we do something and they say they’re proud of us, that means a lot to me. “Good job.” “I’m proud of you.” Whatever it is. I always want to make them proud.

Perez: I feel like with our school, Ricky is a huge stand out for me. Good coach and teacher. Recently there was an LGBTQ+ DEFY Pride event that was happening. It was me and him for the title. I was telling him, “It's super sick that we're going against each other for the title but obviously you're going to win.” He said, “No, you're going over.” I was like, “What!? That's crazy. I'm not going over. That's not happening.” But he made it happen. Just having that moment of teacher vs student and having me go over is crazy. Especially for a title, it was just the cherry on top.

Once again, shout out to the new homie @arealgoldmouth on the snap.

3. If you could spend the day with anyone, living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
Perez: I would love to go back in time and...well, if I could go back in time that would be sick. But if I could hang out with one of those wrestlers from back in the day like Eddy Guerrero. One of those wrestlers who passed away so early – just to know how it felt to be one of those wrestlers. I feel like that would be so interesting.

Scott: I wanna spend the day with Derrick Rose. When I was growing up he was one of my idols. The whole story, getting injured and trying to come back from the injury. I’ve listened to him in interviews and on podcasts, he seems very chill and wise. I wouldn’t mind talking to him and maybe hooping a little bit.

4. When’s the last time you did something for the first time?
Scott: Me and my mom went on a cruise ship when I was a child. Going on a cruise ship was an interesting experience. It’s very weird. I don’t know if you’ve ever been on a cruise ship. As a kid, it was sick. There was a pool, they had basketball courts. But as an adult, I don’t know, man. The concept of being on this floating machine with a bunch of random people, I don’t think I could do it now.

Perez: Fun fact about me, I don't know how to cook. Recently I made myself a bowl cake. I baked it. I had never baked a cake. I never did anything by myself like that, cooking wise. So that was a first time ever. That was pretty fun.

How did it turn out?
It turned out good. I live with my roommate, Steven Bradley, and I made him try it and he said it was pretty good.

5. What’s the last thing that made you cry, happy or sad tears?
Perez: I don't know if you're a huge fan of Squid Games but watching this new season had me in tears. It was very good. There are a few shows that brought me to tears and that was one of them.

Scott: I’ll say the last happy time I cried. It was when we won the DOA Tag Team Championship for the first time. No one expected us to win that night. It was a very emotional moment for me and Zaye because we had been working for the last three years to get respected, having people notice us and achieve something. That was really the first thing we had achieved.

6. Your guest question comes from the Don of 365 Pro Wrestling, big Eddie Osbourne. Looking way into the future, what are you going to miss most about wrestling when you’re done?
Scott: Just the feeling of making your entrance. We get pretty good receptions wherever we go and sometimes it’s unexpected. We’ll go to a new place and a get a very good reception. And it’s like, well, maybe people actually do care a little bit. The feeling of being able to hit the curtain, hear your music, feel the energy of the crowd. That’s something I’ll miss. But also! Being backstage and getting to connect with and become friends with all these people who are likeminded. Before I got into wrestling, I didn’t have any wrestling friends, people who were into wrestling. I thought it was kind of a niche thing. But now I’m in that world and everyone loves wrestling. And everyone is great people. I haven’t come across many people who have not been good. I’ll definitely miss the brotherhood of the locker room.

Perez: I feel like, just seeing the people that are involved in wrestling. There's only so much time where we are going to be able to wrestle. Just seeing the faces, the happiness around the environment, it's going to be awesome to leave my legacy. It's going to be very sad to leave the environment and not see the people anymore. It's like a family.

Also, watch this fucking incredible tag match between the Flamin’ Aces and Sinner & Saint (Travis Williams & Judas Icarus, past 5 Questions Guests) because it absolutely rips.