His first act on the show is seen in "Proshai, Livushka" when he and Bobby Zanone assault a garbage sanitation man for threatening to rat out Ralph Cifaretto. Accuracy: A team of editors takes feedback from our visitors to keep trivia as up to date and as accurate as possible. Amongst those arrested were Michele 'Feech' La Manna, sentenced to 20 years. It becomes clear that there is no compromise available between NY and NJ, and as a result the wheels begin to move. Tony, after a near-death experience, would awake from his coma soon after, just in time to settle a dispute over the future of Barone Sanitation with Johnny Sack and Phil Leotardo. informs Eugene they also reject his notion to move to Florida, as they need him in New Jersey to help build a case against Tony in the wake of Curto's death. The relationship between New York and New Jersey families was further complicated when Johnny Sack was busted by the FBI and sent to prison to await trial, and Phil Leotardo, still nursing hard feelings about Blundetto, was named Acting Boss of the Lupertazzi Family. However, as Patsy Parisi and Silvio Dante attempt to go on the lam, they are ambushed by a pair of New York hitmen outside the Bada Bing. Tony instead deferred to Junior, giving him the title as Boss. Tony caught wind of Richie's plot and set the wheels in motion to whack him, but he was spared the trouble when Richie was murdered by his fiancée, who coincidentally happened to be Tony's sister Janice Soprano. He blamed the disappearance of Ralph on the New York family, particularly Johnny Sack, who had a problem with Ralph due to a joke that was made about his wife, Ginny. Faced with threats of war and torture from Johnny Sack and Phil Leotardo plus unease in his own family, Tony Soprano was left with no choice but to kill Tony B. himself. Like Vito Spatafore and Benny Fazio, he is initially introduced as a small character, whose role slowly increases throughout the series. The likely idea is that if Tony is killed, Silvio will take over and make peace, and Gervasi will be rewarded. Tony came out of hiding shortly after and arranged a sit down with Butch DeConcini and Albie Cianflone through "Little" Carmine Lupertazzi and retired Five Families Boss, George Paglieri. Junior's increasingly diminished capacity led him to shoot Tony in the abdomen, mistakenly thinking that Tony was former already deceased nemesis "Little Pussy" Malanga. The hit on Phil went awry however, as Phil's Ukranian mistress and her father who was mistaken for Phil were killed. In the ensuing carnage, Silvio Dante is shot multiple times but Parisi escapes. He does so by stalking the man, following him into a convenience store where the juror takes a drink and a candy bar. The captains of the Family agreed to cut all ties to Junior and allow Tony to decide what happens to him. Tony reasoned that a war with New York would prevent his family from earning.
Christopher Moltisanti assigns Eugene the task of taking out a guy named Teddy Spirodakis in Boston who owed Christopher money and failed to pay him. An assassination attempt on Tony was made, but Tony managed to escape with just an injury to the ear, leaving one hitman dead. He begins developing serious stress with his home life due to his wife pushing him to talk Tony into their retiring to Florida with the money and also his son's incessant drug-use. Tony conducted the execution of Millio with caution, bringing in two men from Naples to carry out the hit on Rusty and his soldier, Eddie Pietro. Eugene Pontecorvo was introduced on the show as an associate in the Soprano crime family in the episode "Proshai, Livushka". Eugene subsequently becomes a made man in the following episode "Fortunate Son" along with Christopher Moltisanti. Tony retaliates by nearly beating him to death. Ralph is not present in Season 1 or 2, as he spends a prolonged amount of time in Miami overseeing the family's real estate interests from spring 1999 to mid-2000, returning following the "disappearance" of Aprile capo Richie Aprile. In the episode Unidentified Black Males, while he and Little Paulie Germani are engaging in what initially began as a harmless banter at the Esplanade construction site, Little Paulie goes too far in Eugene's mind when he conveys through an innuendo that Eugene is a homosexual. However, Tony continued to punish Junior through business arrangements.

Tony, in a fit of rage, once hit Ralph after he murdered a Bada Bing dancer named Tracee. Vito Spatafore was named captain of the Aprile crew in 2002. Junior Soprano was arrested and questioned about the shooting, which he insisted must have been a self-inflicted gunshot by Tony, whom he labeled as a "depression case".
Uncle Junior and Tony were at that point at each other's throats because Junior plotted to murder a rival, "Little Pussy" Malanga, in Malanga's favorite restaurant, Vesuvio, a restaurant owned by Tony's childhood friend Artie Bucco. Jackie Aprile was named Acting Boss of the family by DiMeo, much to the chagrin of Junior Soprano.