First of all, just because it's Japan, it doesn't mean they live in a bubble. The era of the shogunate are long gone. Western movies had the biggest box office earnings for decades, before China allowed them to screen widely, and took it over. So yeah, they will obviously know about action stars that are pretty much legends, even if they rather prefer their own culture.
Btw, Sorbenegger would've been a better sounding translation imo.