MovieChat Forums > The Sopranos (1999) Discussion > Could Tony Have Met Gotti?

Could Tony Have Met Gotti?

posted 4 years ago by Sandman81 (1509)
17 replies | jump to latest

Obviously Tony was screwing with the guys at the golf course with his John Gotti story. But is there any chance he did meet Gotti at one point? Doubtful they would associate very much or have a direct business connection. Gotti became boss in 1986, and went to prison in '92. At that point Tony was a young capo for a small North Jersey Family. Even if the Gambino's had a business relationship with the Dimeo family, he would be sending associates to handle it, in order to insulate himself.

The only possible scenario I see would be if he was at some kind of event in the city, and Johnny Sack was there. Johnny being a Capo/underboss of one the five families would probably have enough status to approach Gotti, if for nothing else than to say hello and pay his respects. At that point Johnny could introduce Gotti to "a friend of ours from Jersey". Then a handshake and a quick hello would probably be the extent of it.

The more I'm thinking about it, its more likely Johnny Boy Soprano actually did business with John Gotti.

[–] millsey72 (10372) 4 years ago

You do realize that the Sopranos were a fictional family, while Gotti was real life.

[–] Sandman81 (1509) 4 years ago

Yes I do. And in the fictional Soprano universe they mention John Gotti several times. Thus meaning that the John Gotti we know IRL also existed in the Sopranos fictional universe, and was either identical or very similar to the real life one. So the very valid question stands: could Tony Soprano have actually met John Gotti?

Very lazy effort on your part.

[–] millsey72 (10372) 4 years ago

But because the Sopranos are a fictional family, there were never any scenes filmed with Tony meeting Gotti. So what you are asking is not valid

[–] MiguelGordon (529) a year ago

Shit man, do you ever post anything worth reading? Every time I see your name there's some bullshit under it

[–] millsey72 (10372) a year ago

Thats not true. I posted something like 2 weeks ago that made a lot of sense

[–] PaladinNJ (21528) 4 years ago

John Gotti was very big on networking so it's entirely possible. But I assume at the time the producers couldn't work it into storylines directly for fear of potential "legal" reprisals for slander.

[–] Lootrock (149) 3 years ago

I'm glad they didn't. It would have been corny if they had worked Gotti in even for a scene just to attach itself to something known. Working in a lesser known guy who was still notable in that time would have been cool though if they were gonna do something like that. Maybe like a Michael Franzese who little Carmine no doubt would have known since they both lived in Miami

[–] Discodave321 (1) 2 years ago

Sandman has the logical idea here

[–] jimmyjuliano12 (342) 3 years ago

When gotti wanted someone (i can't remember his name) whacked during the 80s, he reached out to the decavalcante family, the decavalcante family in NJ is the basis of the sopranos. tony is based on vinny "ocean" palermo. Vinny palermo knew gotti well, so yeah...

[–] Enigmaticocean77 (2446) 3 years ago

If I recall correctly Tony did talk about knowing John in an episode. It was the episode where he was on the golf course with a few friends who had no ties to the mob. One of the guys asks him if he knew John, to which Tony responds "Yeah, I knew him." Tony, then tells a disturbing story about John, and it ends the conversation. This was a LONG time ago that I saw the episode so I might be a bit off about it, but that's how I remember it.

[–] degray9 (1126) 3 years ago

Tony was just leading the golfers on with his story about Gotti. He jokes how Gotti outbid him for his favourite ice-cream truck and "rang the bell all the way home," making a jerking motion with his arm. He was playing them for fools.

[–] Enigmaticocean77 (2446) 3 years ago

Ah, thanks. I haven't seen that episode since it aired. So, I couldn't remember it very well.

[–] degray9 (1126) 3 years ago

Did you see it in 1999? Before the show became the huge phenomenon it was. I am jealous.

[–] Enigmaticocean77 (2446) 3 years ago

Yeah. I watched it as it was airing on HBO. I believe that it aired on Sundays. I haven't watched it since. I keep meaning to, but I simply never have the time. I actually only watched the first four seasons. I was disappointed in a lot of season three. There were (what I thought) a bunch of unresolved plot lines that (to my knowledge) were never resolved from that season. The Dr. being rapped, the Russian (I think he was Russian) that was shot in the head and chased through the woods, who simply vanished, and if I recall correctly that season (or maybe) season four Carmella was wining and complaining non-stop about money, and being scared about not having anything if something were to happen to Tony. To me, the show became too much of a soap opera at that time. So, I stopped watching it. I could be remembering things a bit wrong, but that's how I remember it. Like I said, I do plan on watching the series again someday as I heard that it did get better as it went on.

[–] Bloodworth79 (5690) 3 years ago

I say they barely interact.

NJ and NY would stay out each other's business

[–] JosephQCat (706) 3 years ago

I put the probability at around 10 percent. And that would be just simply meeting and not an extended interaction. Bumping into one another at a calling hours for a mutual acquaintance for example.

[–] millsey72 (10372) 2 years ago

I think it was a little higher. I'll put it up to 11.3% chance he would met Gotti