I saw in an interview Larry Mazza said " they know who they are gonna make a capo early. The know who could potentially rise the ranks. They are groomed for it. Guys like Gotti, were never supposed to be at the top. Don Carlo probably never thought of him in that way"..... (That was paraphrase. Not exact quote).

I find truth in this statement. He also alluded to "the gangsters" (Gotti, Gaspipe etc) who got to the top by treachery helped bring the mob down. I agree with Mazza. After the Commission Case, Cosa Nostra was still strong (from the standpoint that, although the bosses were gone, it not like they left behind NOTHING to work with. Those guys brought it to the skeleton of an organization it is today.

As for Castellano, he was groomed to be the Boss. He was made a capo under Anastasia (and to quote Michael Franzese "Junior made me and there's no slipping by with Persico) so for me, that's enough of a testament to Paul's gangster credentials. Paul was not soft, I'm sure he wasn't squeamish about a guy getting worked over in the back of a butcher shop. Even in his movie, they show him in a warehouse watching a guy get tortured by Vito Genovese ( I think they took Hollywood liberties and traded Genovese for Anastasia)

I stand by my opinion that Paul was a good choice in 1976. He was a earner. He had very capable guys ( Tommy Bilotti is underrated as a brute in that life, Demeo, the D'Alsessio brothers. etc)