Nicknames Of Mob/Mafia Members Quiz

Answer: Teets

Sam "Teets" Battaglia signed on with Johnny Torrio and Al Capone when a gang war broke out with the Irish North Side Gang. Capone and Torrio were bosses at the time.
Battaglia became a high ranking member of the mob by the late 1930s and was also a loan shark that you didn't want to fool around with. If you were merely behind in your payments to him, you would be ushered into the back room of a restaurant in Chicago named Casa Madrid. There you would face him and be either half or fully beaten to death.
The nickname "Teets" came from one of those times a debtor was being beaten. Another mob guy who witnessed the savage thrashing of a debtor, had the nerve to question how Battaglia was handling the guy who owed him. Battaglia became angry and yelled at him. He screamed "Shaddup, or I'll bust ya in da teets!" By "teets" he obviously meant teeth. That's the story of how his nickname came about.

Answer: The Grim Reaper

Greg "The Grim Reaper" Scarpa was a capo (captain) for the Colombo crime family out of New York. Unbeknownst to the family, Scarpa was at one time also an FBI informant. From the 1970s to 1980s, he was the chief enforcer for Carmine Persico who was a boss for the Colombo family. In 1991 it was known that Scarpa was responsible for three murders at the minimum.

He was a powerful, slick, and brutal man which earned him his nickname. Another reason was that he would actually leave the number "666' on the pagers of people that he killed.

The number "666" is known as "The Number Of The Beast" according to the bible.

Answer: The Waiter

Paul "The Waiter" Ricca was born in Naples, Italy in 1915. He murdered Emilio Parrillo there and was sentenced to only two years in prison. Vincenzo Capasso, who was from Sicily, saw Ricca kill the guy and ratted him out. Then he foolishly testified against him in court. Later on Ricca killed Capasso.

He then found it necessary to change his name. He decided on Paolo Maglio and left Naples for Apricena, Italy. From there he managed to get to France where he got on a boat and headed for New York via Cuba.

In Cuba he met Joseph "Diamond Joe" Esposito who was a bootlegger and also owned a Chicago restaurant. Ricca became maitre d'hote at Esposito's restaurant and that's how he became known as "The Waiter" but he hated his nickname. Paul was a puzzle to those around him.

He was a heartless and cold killer yet he never cursed, appeared to be somewhat educated, and had incredibly good manners. If he told a story it was always clean without vulgarity. Paul even appeared to be sensitive and would cry when he heard about a fellow mobster's wife having a baby. Paul had a lot of money so he was able to fit in with the upper crust of society if he wished to.

In an article written about him By John William Tuohy it was said that "Ricca was able to slip in and out of Chicago's elite society "like cashmere around a leper".

Answer: Joey Doves

Joseph "Joey Doves" Aiuppa eventually became boss of the "Chicago Outfit". He was given his nickname(s) because he got busted for illegally transporting mourning doves across state lines. His compadres also dubbed him "Mourning Doves" and "Joey O'Brien".
Apparently The FBI caught him with 563 frozen doves in his car. In August of 1966 he was fined $1,000.00 and sentenced to three months in prison for the offense.
Aiuppa was one of the organizers of a huge mob skimming operation in Las Vegas. There was a movie about this named "Casino" which came out in 1995. He was portrayed as the character "Remo Gaggi" in the movie.

Answer: Louie Lump Lump

Louis "Louie Lump Lump" Barone was a numbers runner affiliated with one of the New York crime families. He swore he wasn't a "made guy" nor was he a Mafia soldier. As far as the FBI was concerned he was part of the Lucchese family.
He had an issue one day with a guy in a local restaurant called Rao's. He felt disrespected so he pulled out his gun and shot the guy dead. To Barone, this was just another street beef.
Barone got his nickname because of all the fights he was in. He gave out as well as took his share of lumps.

Answer: Benny Squints

Philip "Benny Squints" Lombardo was at one time the boss of the most powerful crime family in America. it was the Genovese family. He was also known as "Cockeyed Ben". Apparently Lombardo wore thick glasses, therefore, his nicknames.
Lombardo had to have been the most successful mob boss in history. He used two front bosses so that it appeared he was just a soldier. That enabled him to run the family for 20 years behind the scenes. Nobody in law enforement had any idea he was boss until long after his death. He died at the age of 78 in April of 1987 and was living in Florida at the time.

Answer: The Ant

Anthony "The Ant" Spilotro was an enforcer for the Chicago mob. He was sent to Las Vegas to keep an eye on and protect their illegal profits from the money they skimmed from casinos there.
At one time an FBI agent named William Roemer referrred to Spilotro as "that little pissant". It wasn't okay for the press to use the word "pissant" so they just shortened it to "The Ant". "Tough Tony" was another nickname given to Spilotro.
In January of 1986 a meeting was held at which it was decided that Spilotro had to be "whacked". He was a vicious killer who got what he gave out. At one time Spilotro put a guy's head in a vise to get him to talk. The movie "Casino" portrayed this vicious act. Joe Pesci played Nicky Santoro in the movie but the character was based on Spilotro. "Casino" also showed Nick santoro and his brother being savagely beaten and buried alive. Law enforcement thought this was how Spilotro and his brother met their maker. Through an informer they later found out that the brothers were lured to a supposed meeting and then shot dead.

Answer: Tony Ducks

Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo was the boss of the Lucchese crime family. His criminal career spanned seven decades! He was involved with the construction and trucking unions and all but completely controlled both.
His nickname came from the fact that he was able to "duck" subpoenas and avoid being convicted of crimes for the seven decades that he lived a criminal life.
Corallo died of natural causes while in prison. He was one of the lucky ones.

Answer: Gaspipe

Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso was once an underboss for the Lucchese crime family out of New York. Casso was involved in at least 17 murders. Some of these murders he committed himself and others were committed by corrupt NYPD Detectives Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa.
Casso loved killing. Most of the victims were from his crime family the Luccheses. He thought they had been cooperating with the police. He even tried murdering John Gotti on several occasions.
There are a few reasons that he received the nickname "Gaspipe". One was that he used a gaspipe to murder with. Another reason was that his father hooked up illegal gas connections. Casso himself said that it was that his father, who was a mob enforcer, used a gas pipe to threaten union dissidents and anyone else he found the need to "straighten out".
Casso eventually became the thing he hated most...a police informant. As of 2014 he is still serving out his life sentence at CCM Minneapolis prison.

Answer: Clutch Hand

Giuseppe the "Clutch Hand" Morello was the first boss of the Morello family. Eventually he became the number one advisor to Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria.
in the late 1800s the Morello family started out as the 107th Street Mob. Then they became the Morello family, and later the Genovese family. The Genovese family was out of New York and is the oldest of the five mob families.
Morello got his nickname because of the fact that his right hand was deformed. It had only one finger on it which made it resemble a claw.