I think Paul's biggest mistake was thinking that since he inherited Carlo's business,that he also inherited the respect that Carlo commanded. The Gotti faction basically humored him, and pretty much laughed behind his back. Had Paul whacked Angelo right away for his drug operation,he would have been in a better position to neutralize Gotti

Because of the Commission edict, no made guy would have taken Angelo's side,and no one would have dared to publicly criticize Paul. Then he could have freely dismantled the Bergin crew. Because of Neil's intercession,Angelo lived long enough to set the wheels in motion for the hit on Paul.

Can you imagine a real Boss (like Chin) constantly asking for the tapes like Paulie did,only to be stonewalled (more than once). My personal opinion is that the conversation would go along these lines; "I want them tapes. I'm sending a guy over on Monday.He either comes back with the tapes or a leg. I send him over Tuesday,he comes back with the tapes or the other leg. after that, it's gonna get ugly. What do ya wanna do?"