Jay White pinned Tetsuya Naito to win the B block of the G1 Climax 29 on Sunday, setting up a winner-take-all match with A block winner Kota Ibushi.
Ibushi upset IWGP champ Kazuchika Okada in the A block finale on Saturday to finish 7-2 in the New Japan Pro Wrestling round-robin tournament.
Okada also finished 7-2. Ibushi advanced to the final with the head-to-head win.
White finished the B block with a 6-3 record. Naito was among three wrestlers – along with Jon Moxley and Hirooki Goto – to go 5-4 in B block action.
Moxley, the former WWE star and top draw for upstart U.S. promotion AEW, ended his first G1 on a four-match losing streak, including a Sunday loss to Juice Robinson.
Moxley is the IWGP U.S. champ, but cannot appear for the New Japan promotion in the U.S. due to his contractual obligations with AEW.
The Ibushi-White winner wins a contract to face Okada in the main event of New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom show in January.
Story by Chris Graham