The mob version of the children's game King of the Hill usually ends with someone getting whacked, and on April 15, 1931 Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria got knocked off the mound by his rivals as reported by Michael Pollak for The New York Times:
His shooting ended a rivalry with Salvatore Maranzano and a yearlong round-robin of bloodletting known as the Castellammarese War. It also paved the way for the rise of the notorious five mob families, with Lucky Luciano replacing Mr. Masseria as a family head.
The king is dead; long live the king.
