Since the ending was left rather open ended, anything is really possible. Tony could have died in that restaurant. Going on the theory that he's dead, and it was Butchie who hit him, I'm thinking the Sopranos are dissolved as a family and turned into the Lupertazzi's Jersey crew. Paulie is kept alive and made captain of the "Jersey crew", due to his lifelong connections to the region. He would pick up all of Tony's old contacts just by name and reputation alone, and make the Luper's Jersey crew a cash cow with them having to do little work, and not having to kill more people. Paulie would be allowed to run Jersey, bring in his own guys, recommend his own guys to be made, basically be just like a boss, except that he would be a Luper captain by title, answering and kicking up directly to their administration.


"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea