By what means and with what success did the kings of Wessex become kings of England in the tenth century?

By What means, and with what success, did the kings of Wessex become kings of England in the Tenth Century? In 973 Edgar 'the Peaceable' took part in a second coronation. This process was a sequence by which Edgar's superiority was recognised by the Celtic and Scandinavian rulers in the British Isles . But what events lead to this declaration of power? And if as the evidence states, Edgar was recognised as 'King of the English', then …

…means of a unique culture was also not possible. So is this the answer? Kings of England geographically, yes. But a subjugation of its people into a unified homogenous country under a solid hereditary monarchy is not as easily recognisable. The nobility of Anglo-Saxon England was secular apart from the West Saxon line, and infighting instead of unifying against common enemies meant that the kingdom would never be as strong as it needed to be.