Most Mania weekend shows are within 30 minutes of the host city. Regardless of what the card looked like I don't think a show 3+ hours away is attempting to compete.
Most of the Mania weekend shows have attendance caps (smaller attendance than usual, obviously) so this is giving people on the other side of the state a show to go to if they can't get to any of the other Mania weekend shows.
More broadly, I said something in the WWE thread about whether or not they'll get back to house shows but I think there is value for AEW or anybody else to run some house shows once the world opens. House show touring doesn't have to be a permanent thing but I think this fall the demand to go to events will be at an all-time high it makes sense to just ride the wave for a bit.
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